Apparatus for bundling tobacco leaves



Dec. 3, 196 F. w. JOSWIG ETAL APPARATUS FOR BUNDLING TOBACCO LEAVES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 5, 1961 INVENTOR. FRED W. Josw|s AND GILBERT A. MINNICH,

ATTORNEYS 3, 1963 F. w. JOSWIG ETAL 3,112,331

APPARATUS FOR BUNDLING TOBACCO LEAVES Filed Aug. 3, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 55 &-

3 I6 76 l Fig.5 74 Fig.6

INVENTOR. Fszso W. doswle AND GILBERT A.MmN|cH,

wwv'auwl ATTORNEYS o United States Patent 3,112,331 APPARATUS FOR BUNDLING TOBACCO LEAVES Fred W. Josvvig and Gilbert A. Minnich, Paris, Ky, asslgnors to Gay-Bell Corporation, Paris, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Filed Aug. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 129,023 4 Claims. (Cl. 214 5.5)

T his invention relates to a new and improved apparatus useful in preparing tobacco leaves for curing, and more specifically to a device which readily secures the harvested leaves in small bundles on a long cord or string whereby they may be easily stored during the curing period.

As is well known, preparation of tobacco leaves for the market involves a long complicated process, including the steps of harvesting the leaves in a certain manner, and then storing them in an open barn for a given period of time in which the leaves are permitted to cure. In a typical curing barn, the leaves are hung in small bundles from the rafters or from a pole or long string of cord strung between the rafters. This gathering and securing of the leaves in bundles obviously involves a large number of manual steps; some of the steps are performed by hand because there is no better way, and many are performed by hand because conventional machines would injure the delicate leaves.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a device which will quickly perform the operation of binding the tobacco leaves in small bundles on a long piece of string, and will perform this step in such a way that no injury will occur to the tobacco leaves.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a device which is simple in operation, and easy to manufacture.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a machine of the type described which is relatively small so that it can be easily stored when not in use, and that can be moved from place to place within a single barn, or from barn to barn as the case requires.

These and other objects which will become apparent to a worker skilled in this art upon a reading of the specification and an examination of the accompanying drawings, are accomplished by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which an exemplary embodiment shall now be described.

Reference is made to the drawings wherein the same reference characters indicate similar parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away, of a device according to the instant invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the device with the conveyor assembly removed;

FIGURE 3 is a partial side elevational view taken from the opposite side from FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the conveyor assembly;

FEGURE 5 is a partial side elevational view similar to FIGURE 3 showing the parts in a different position;

FIGURE 6 is a partial side elevational view similar to FIGURE 1 showing the parts in a different position; and

FIGURES 7 through 13 are a series of schematic views showing the relative positions of certain parts to be described hereinafter during various periods of the looping operation.

As seen in FIGURE 1 of the drawings, a stand 19 is provided, having a suitable number of legs 11 to form a sturdy base for the device. A seat for the operator is provided as at 12, and may be made adjustable in a conventional manner to accommodate different persons. Securely fastened to the base as at 13 is an upright frame member 14 which serves to mount the various components 112,831 Patented Dec. 3, 1963 "ice presently to be described. It will be noted that the upper end of this member is provided with a slot 15 in which the needle support also to be described hereinafter, is reciprocated.

in the lower portion of the frame member 14 is found the main pivot pin 16. As is most clearly shown in H6- URE 2, a stem engaging arm 17 is mounted on one end of this pin, while handle member 18 is mounted on the other end. Each of these members are securely fastened to the pivot pin, so that they move in unison.

Turning now to FiGURES 3 and 5, it can be seen that an upper bracket 19 and a lower bracket 2d are provided, which serve as guides for the reciprocation of the rod 21. The rod 21 in turn mounts a collar 22. As seen in FIG- URE 2, the collar is provided with a needle support arm 23 which extends through the slot 15 in the frame member 14 and carries the needle 24. A connecting bar 25 is hingedly fastened at one end to the collar 22, and at the other end to the handle member 18. By comparing FIG- URES 3 and 5 it will be seen that moving the handle member in the direction indicated, acting through the connecting bar 25, collar 22 and rod 21, serves to reciprocate the needle support 23 (which is fixed to collar 22) and the needle 24.

The frame member 14 mounts a second pivot pin 26, see FIGURE 2, which is located about halfway between the upper and lower brackets 19 and 20. One end of this pin mounts the looper 27; this member 27 is merely an elongated rod having a hook at its free end. On the other end of pivot pin 26 is mounted a very short actuating arm 26a shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5. The free end of the actuating arm mounts a small roller wheel 28 which can be seen in FIGURES 3 and 5.

A rectangular plate 29 is securely fastened to the inner surface of rod 21 (i.e. the surface facing the frame 14) by means of bolts 30. As is clearly shown in the drawings, this plate is provided with a shaped slot 31 in which the roller Wheel 25 rides, and which serves as a cam to actuate the looper 27.

A large guide plate 32 is approximately centrally disposed on the other side of frame member 14, and a needle guard mounting plate 33 is provided which extends perpendicularly from the guide plate and the frame member in a horizontal plane. The latter may either be a separate plate, or formed as part of the guide plate and bent into position; this is the construction shown in the drawings. The needle guard 34 is indicated in dotted lines in FIG- URES l, 2 and 6, and is secured to its mounting plate by a single bolt 35, and is spring urged downwardly as at as. The guard itself consists of a back portion which lies on top of the needle guard mounting plate 33, and two downwardly extending elements 37 which surround the needle 24. The edges of these elements which face the operator are inclined from the horizontal so that pushing an object into them will cause the guard to raise out of the way.

Secured to the guide plate 32 by any suitable means such as bolts or welding is a stem supporting platform 38. As shown in the drawings, this platform comprises an upwardly inclined portion which generally represents the chord of the arc defined by the stern engaging arm 17 as it moves from the position shown in FIGURE 1 to that shown in FIGURE 6, a horizontal portion which serves as a working surface directly under the needle, and a downwardly sloping portion. t will also be noted that the upwardly sloping portion of this platform is slotted as at 39 to provide a track for the forked end 40 of the stern engaging arm 17.

A conveyor assembly is shown in FIGURE 4 which is adapted to be mounted on the device as shown in FIG- URE 1, to serve as a support for the tobacco leaf. It

comprises three rollers 41, each of a length to accommodate a normal tobacco leaf, arranged so that the conveyor belt 42, which is placed over the rollers, will define a surface which corresponds to the three segments of the stem supporting platform 38. It will be understood that the belt may be made of any soft material, although a woven cloth is preferred. It has been found that harder surfaces, even though smooth, can very easily injure the tender tobacco leaves. The entire conveyor assembly is mounted on the device by means of conventional brackets, such as seen at 43 in FIGURE 1.

At the top of the frame member 14 a conventional string supply arrangement is provided, comprising a holder 44, a ball of string 45, and guide elements 46. As is shown in the drawings, the string passes from the ball 45, through the guides 46, and down through the eye of the needle 24. To operate the device of the instant invention, an operator sits on the seat 12. The tobacco leaves, as they are harvested, are brought into the barn and placed within easy reach of the operator. From this supply, the operator selects an appropriate number of leaves and places them on the device with the leaves resting on the conveyor belt 42, and the stems resting on the platform 38 and abutting against the guide plate 32. By pushing the handle 18 away from him, the forked end 46 of the stem engaging arm 17 moves the leaves in this direction, into the position illustrated in FIGURE 6. In this position it will be noted that the forked end 40 and therefore the stems of the tobacco leaves are both well past the path of the needle, thereby preventing the needle from puncturing the stem portion of the leaf. It will also be remembered that movement of the handle 18, acting through the connecting bar 25 and collar 22, serves to reciprocate the needle 24, and that the same movement, acting through the rod 21, the cam slot 31, the cam wheel 28, and the pivot pin 26 also actuates the looper 27.

In FIGURES 7 through 13, the sequence of these operations is diagrammatically illustrated. With the handle in its lowermost position, as just before the start of a complete operation, the parts will be as shown in FIG- URE 7. The needle is in its lowered position, the plate 29 is in its lowest position, and the looper is disengaged. The handle 18 is then pushed upwardly. As the plate 29 is thus moved upwardly, the shape of its cam slot 32 forces the cam wheel to move back toward the operator; through the previously described linkage, and this causes the looper 27 to swing rapidly toward the operator, catching a loop of thread as it passes the needle. The looper remains in this position as the needle moves upwardly at the continued urging of the operator, and a bundle of leaves come into the position shown in FIGURE 9. As the handle is returned toward the operator, the needle comes back down encircling the bundle of leaves; the looper remains stationary until the end of the stroke when it returns to its original position. At the start of the next cycle, as shown in FIGURE 11, the looper again moves past the needle catching another loop, and so the process continues, bundling small groups of leaves on a continuous string. Another person is positioned to receive the bundled leaves as they leave the machine, and may begin stringing them from the rafters immediately.

Although we have described this invention in terms of a specific embodiment, many modifications could be made which do not depart from its scope and spirit; accordingly, no limitation is intended except that set forth in the claims which follow.

What is claimed as new and what is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for bundling tobacco leaves comprising a frame, a conveyor mounted on said frame and adapted to support a tobacco leaf, a pivot shaft in said frame, a stem engaging arm pivotally mounted on said shaft and positioned to engage the stem portion of a leaf on said conveyor, means for moving said arm in an arcuate path, a supply of string, a needle mounted for reciprocal movement into the arcuate path of said arm, means for reciprocating said needle in timed relation to the movement of said arm, a looper shaft in said frame, a looper pivotally mounted on said shaft, and means for effecting arcuate movement of said looper in timed relation to the reciprocation of said needle and the movement of said stem engaging arm.

2. The device claimed in claim 1 wherein the means for reciprocating said needle in timed relation to the movement of said arm comprises a handle pivotally mounted on the same shaft as said arm, a vertically disposed rod mounted for reciprocal movement, said handle being operatively connected to said rod whereby movement of the handle in one direction raises the needle and movement in the other direction lowers the needle, and means associated with said rod for mounting said needle.

3. The device claimed in claim 2 wherein the means for effecting arcuate movement of said looper in timed relation to the reciprocation of said needle and the movement of said stem engaging arm comprises an actuating arm pivotally mounted on the same shaft as said looper, a roller wheel on the free end of said actuating arm, and a cam mounted on said rod, said cam being in contact with said roller wheel whereby reciprocation of said rod actuates said looper.

4. The device claimed in claim 3 wherein said conveyor includes an upwardly inclined portion, said portion being coterminous with the chord of said arcuate path of said stem engaging arm, and wherein said arcuate path of said arm terminates beyond the path of reciprocation of said needle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,483,558 Sponsel Feb. 12, 1924 2,327,252 Dickerson Aug. 17, 1943 2,896,797 Bell July 28, 1959 3,609,585 Shelton Nov. 21, 1961 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR BUNDLING TOBACCO LEAVES COMPRISING A FRAME, A CONVEYOR MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME AND ADAPTED TO SUPPORT A TOBACCO LEAF, A PIVOT SHAFT IN SAID FRAME, A STEM ENGAGING ARM PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT AND POSITIONED TO ENGAGE THE STEM PORTION OF A LEAF ON SAID CONVEYOR, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID ARM IN AN ARCUATE PATH, A SUPPLY OF STRING, A NEEDLE MOUNTED FOR RECIPROCAL MOVEMENT INTO THE ARCUATE PATH OF SAID ARM, MEANS FOR RECIPROCATING SAID NEEDLE IN TIMED RELATION TO THE MOVEMENT OF SAID ARM, A LOOPER SHAFT IN SAID FRAME, A LOOPER PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT, AND MEANS FOR EFFECTING ARCUATE MOVEMENT OF SAID LOOPER IN TIMED RELATION TO THE RECIPROCATION OF SAID NEEDLE AND THE MOVEMENT OF SAID STEM ENGAGING ARM. 